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Pothole cash 'not enough'

City councillor Saj Malik, a taxi driver, pictured on one of the ‘gateways’ into the city, London Road, where he says the potholes are a poor welcome for visitors. Picture: OX68073 Jon Lewis Buy this photo

First published
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by Damian Fantato, Council Reporter, also covering Oxford city centre. Call me on 01865 425429

A WINDFALL of £3m to fix Oxfordshire’s potholes has been called “a drop in the ocean” as the county battles to repair its battered roads.

Last night the county council’s leader Ian Hudspeth said while it was grateful for the extra Government cash the money isn’t enough to provide a long-term solution.

He said: “This funding gives us the opportunity to do more patching rather than just filling in individual potholes, which means getting larger areas filled in.

“We would like to get capital funding to rebuild all the roads because some of them are historic and have been laid without proper foundations, which is what causes the potholes in the first place.

“This money means we can repair more potholes across the county, but we are going to work with the Government to get additional capital funding to do more work.”

Today’s announcement by the Department for Transport (Dft) that Oxfordshire County Council would get £3.1m from the £168m, is the second award after the winter floods, following £4.8m given in March as part of an emergency fund.

But Labour county councillor and transport spokesman John Sanders said: “Our roads have been allowed to deteriorate for decades and we need a much higher amount over many years to bring them back up to standard.

“Being able to fix a few extra potholes in Oxfordshire is something that we should obviously welcome, but this is just a drop in the ocean.

“The potholes are appearing faster than we can fix them. We need more money.”
The Government has claimed the cash will help fix around 58,000 potholes and the funding brings the total awarded by it to the council since March up to just over £7.8m.

Last year the council fixed about 38,000 potholes.

The authority said it plans to spend £13.178m of capital funding on carriageway schemes this year, as well as £4m on “reactive repairs”.

But it follows an Oxford Mail report in March, which revealed that the county council faces a funding black hole of more than £160m needed to fix all the holes and defects that exist on county roads.

Despite the large shortfall Ian Hudspeth, the leader of the county council, said the council was grateful for the funding and would put it “to the best use”.

Taxi driver and city councillor Saj Malik said the condition of Oxford’s roads is still poor despite money that has been granted.

He said: “The condition of the roads has become worse because if you come in from London Road every single day there is a new pothole.

“You do your best to avoid them, but in the last few weeks, I have had to change part of my front axle.

“It is a shame because we get so many tourists and does anyone want to go to a city full of potholes?”

Mr Hudspeth said the council’s officers will now decide where the money will be spent, with work likely to happen over the summer when the weather is dry.

London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.

London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.Dilligaf2010

Dilligaf2010 wrote:
London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.

And whilst we have a system which allows taxi drivers etc to run councils, this is what we will get.

[quote][p][bold]Dilligaf2010[/bold] wrote:
London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.[/p][/quote]And whilst we have a system which allows taxi drivers etc to run councils, this is what we will get.Quentin Walker

"Overseas Aid" and mock marriage have been the big issues of this parliament. Now it's fizzling out there's nothing better to talk about than the infrastructure of our country because, unlike those 2 big issues, well it's really trivial isn't it? After all it only affects the welfare and livelihood of every single citizen, doesn't it. And is one of the few things that is a public as opposed to a personal service carried out by the State.

"Overseas Aid" and mock marriage have been the big issues of this parliament. Now it's fizzling out there's nothing better to talk about than the infrastructure of our country because, unlike those 2 big issues, well it's really trivial isn't it? After all it only affects the welfare and livelihood of every single citizen, doesn't it. And is one of the few things that is a public as opposed to a personal service carried out by the State.Lord Palmerstone

King Joke wrote:
Potholes don't affect my welfare or livelihod, and I cycle almost everywhere.

Oh yes they do. As the infrastructure crumbles, so will your smug complacency. You may have missed the bit where your food makes its way from the ports to the supermarket by road; it does. I assume you have no cycling friends or else you'd be aware of horrific injuries caused to them by our long-neglected roads.

[quote][p][bold]King Joke[/bold] wrote:
Potholes don't affect my welfare or livelihod, and I cycle almost everywhere.[/p][/quote]Oh yes they do. As the infrastructure crumbles, so will your smug complacency. You may have missed the bit where your food makes its way from the ports to the supermarket by road; it does. I assume you have no cycling friends or else you'd be aware of horrific injuries caused to them by our long-neglected roads.Lord Palmerstone

I am not starving, so clearly whatever the state of the roads, they are not stopping the lorries getting to the supermarkets I use. The London Road is a disgrace, some of exacerbated by a drawn-out consultation and objections to the resurfacing scheme, but it is an exception. I can't think of any others anywhere near that bad. THe Abingdon Rd, the Iffley Rd, the Southern Bypass, the Sandford Link, the Oxon section of the A34, all look fine to me.

I am not starving, so clearly whatever the state of the roads, they are not stopping the lorries getting to the supermarkets I use. The London Road is a disgrace, some of exacerbated by a drawn-out consultation and objections to the resurfacing scheme, but it is an exception. I can't think of any others anywhere near that bad. THe Abingdon Rd, the Iffley Rd, the Southern Bypass, the Sandford Link, the Oxon section of the A34, all look fine to me.King Joke

The councillor a in Oxford in my opinion are liars they do have enough monies to fix the pot holes in Oxford.

The millions they get from parking charges in Oxford would be more than enough to fix all the pot holes in Oxford. If this Labour council spent more monies on fixing the roads and less on there wages and pensions and there highly inflated personal allowances of there's there would be enough monies, in my opinion, if the Oxford city council were investigated by an independent body they would be prosecuted for misuse of government funds and fraud.

Why does it cost so much to fix pot holes, is this the same type of problem the John Radcliffe has where they have a supplier who charges £75.00 for a light bulb that costs £1.20 in B & Q.

Does the Oxford council have a contractor who charges twenty times the normal price for Tarmac because they supply the council and if in my opinion they do, you can bet one of the councillors gave one of there friends the contract and is in my option getting a back hander, corrupt, wasteful and dishonest. The Oxford city labour councillors, what a joke and a bunch of morons and yes there is an account with monies in from the parking charges do you think the public do not know about it.

The councillor a in Oxford in my opinion are liars they do have enough monies to fix the pot holes in Oxford.
The millions they get from parking charges in Oxford would be more than enough to fix all the pot holes in Oxford. If this Labour council spent more monies on fixing the roads and less on there wages and pensions and there highly inflated personal allowances of there's there would be enough monies, in my opinion, if the Oxford city council were investigated by an independent body they would be prosecuted for misuse of government funds and fraud.
Why does it cost so much to fix pot holes, is this the same type of problem the John Radcliffe has where they have a supplier who charges £75.00 for a light bulb that costs £1.20 in B & Q.
Does the Oxford council have a contractor who charges twenty times the normal price for Tarmac because they supply the council and if in my opinion they do, you can bet one of the councillors gave one of there friends the contract and is in my option getting a back hander, corrupt, wasteful and dishonest. The Oxford city labour councillors, what a joke and a bunch of morons and yes there is an account with monies in from the parking charges do you think the public do not know about it.Jameslouis

The council winge that £3m is not enough. They stated in the TV interview that that would now cover the work they already have planned. Presumably they already have the money set aside for that work so that should mean they now have £3m to do the other necessary work but, more importantly, to do the jobs properly this time so they are not back to square 1 next spring.

The council winge that £3m is not enough. They stated in the TV interview that that would now cover the work they already have planned. Presumably they already have the money set aside for that work so that should mean they now have £3m to do the other necessary work but, more importantly, to do the jobs properly this time so they are not back to square 1 next spring.caz1111

Dilligaf2010 wrote:
London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.

You are mixing up your councils , County Council gets the roads money, the City Council wastes it on supporting green schemes which run on a subsidy added to our energy bills.

[quote][p][bold]Dilligaf2010[/bold] wrote:
London Road is one big pothole, it's horrendous, driving along it in a car is bad, but you're still shaken by the lumps and bumps when travelling in an Oxford Tube coach.
So they've had £7.9m from central government since March, for repairing potholes, but at the same time they're lending £2.3m to a green energy scheme, that's actually going to earn them less interest than leaving the money in the bank.........the mind boggles, no wonder they need extra funding, if they're prepared to give our money away.[/p][/quote]You are mixing up your councils , County Council gets the roads money, the City Council wastes it on supporting green schemes which run on a subsidy added to our energy bills.Cityview